Refrigerator Case Top Duct Member

ABSTRACT

A refrigerated case top duct member ( 122 ). The top duct member is the unitarily molded combination of a main panel ( 132 ) and a number of turning vanes ( 150, 152 ) at a forward end of the main panel. The member may be formed by vacuum molding.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to refrigerator cases. More particularly, theinvention relates to structural integration of insulated panels in wallsof such cases.

Refrigerator cases (generically including freezers) are used in avariety of commercial situations. One key use is for retail display andvending. Many such cases include a closed rear wall and either an openfront or a glass door front.

Providing a forced air flow through the compartment of such cases isimportant for a number of reasons. Maintaining the desired foodtemperature in view of exposure to room air is an important factor.Moisture transport is another (e.g., to control undesirablecondensation). One common forced flow scheme involves a cold air curtaindownwardly discharged from a front top area of the compartment. a returnflow is drawn through an intake at the bottom front of the compartment.

The return flow may be drawn across a cooling heat exchanger (e.g., anevaporator) in a base of the case. The cooled air passes upward througha rear duct at the back of the compartment. The cooled air then passesforward through a top duct, at the front of the top duct, the air isturned downward by turning vanes to form the air curtain. The rear andtop ducts may respectively be defined between rear and top insulatedpanels and non-insulated rear and top duct panels along the rear and topof the compartment.

In addition to basic efficiency concerns, insulation may be appropriateto avoid or control condensation on components external to thecompartment. This may be motivated by sanitary considerations inaddition to refrigerator case longevity.

A variety of top duct and vane assemblies are known. Exemplary assemblyconfigurations are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,357,767, 5,475,987,5,517,826, and 6,722,149.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, one aspect of the invention involves a refrigerated casetop duct member. The top duct member is the unitarily molded combinationof a main panel and a number of turning vanes at a forward end of themain panel. The member may be formed by vacuum molding.

The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth inthe accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view of a refrigerator case.

FIG. 2 is a partially schematic side sectional view of the case of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a transverse horizontal sectional view of the case of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view of a top duct panel of the case of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the panel of FIG. 4, takenalong 5-5.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicatelike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a refrigerator case 20 having a front 22, a back 24, andleft and right ends 26 and 28. For purposes of reference, front, back,left, and right, are taken from the point of view of the case itselfrather than a user facing the case. The case includes a base structure30, a rear wall structure 32, and a top structure 34. The case has acooled interior volume or compartment 36. The exemplary case has aseries of vertical groups of shelves 38. The exemplary case is a closedcase having a sliding or hinged glass door front structure 40 and patchend or partition structures 42 and 44. Partitions are used where casesare arrayed side-by-side; patch ends are used at the two ends of thearray. Alternative cases are open-front.

The exemplary base 30 includes front and back transverse rails 50 and 52for supporting the remainder of the base and, therethrough, theremainder of the case atop a ground/floor surface. The exemplary base 30contains the refrigeration equipment (e.g., an evaporator, and the likeshown schematically as 60 in FIG. 2). The evaporator may be connected toa central compressor and condenser elsewhere in the facility.Alternatively, the case equipment could be self-contained. FIG. 2further schematically shows an air flowpath having a first portion 510carrying cooled air from the equipment 60 to a rear air flowpath sectionor duct 62. A second portion 512 flows upward through the rear duct 62.A third portion 514 flows forward from the top of rear duct 62 through atop duct 64. A fourth portion 516 exits the top duct near the forwardend of the top 34 and is discharged downward along the front 22. Areturn portion 518 is drawn back into the equipment 60 through a grate66 near the forward top portion of the base 30 immediately in front of abase cover member 68.

FIG. 3 shows further details of the rear duct 62. The duct 62 issegmented by a series of interior uprights including a left upright 70,a right upright 72, and a series of intermediate uprights 74. Forwardly,the duct segments are each bounded by an associated duct panel 80 (e.g.,mounted by fasteners 81 to side portions of forward flanges 82 of theadjacent two uprights). As is discussed in further detail below, eachshelf 38 may be mounted to these uprights (e.g., a single width shelfspanning and mounted to exactly two adjacent such uprights via mountingapertures in root portions of the flanges 82). Rearwardly, the ductsegments are collectively bounded by the forward surfaces of panels ofan insulated panel assembly 84. FIG. 2 shows the panel assembly 84 asincluding an upper panel 86 and a lower panel 88.

FIGS. 2 and 3 further show the base 30 as including a series of supportbrackets or braces 90 extending front-to-back spanning the rails 50 and52. Mounted to and extending upward from a rear end portion of eachbrace 90 is a rear external support 92. Each support 92 has a lower end94 mounted to the rear end portion 96 of the associated brace 90 and hasan upper end 98. As is discussed in further detail below, the panelassembly 84 is sandwiched between the uprights 70, 72, and 74 along thefront and the supports 92 along the rear.

The top duct 64 may be similarly segmented or may be substantiallyunsegmented. FIG. 2 shows the top duct 64 defined between a topinsulated panel 120 and a side-by-side array of interior top duct panels122. Each of the panels 122 is unitarily molded as a single piece of apolymeric material (e.g., ABS or polystyrene). The exemplary panels 122are generally rectangular in planform extending from a rear end 124 to afront end 126 and between left and right edges 128 and 130. The panel122 has a main body portion 132 also generally rectangular in planform.A short rear wall 134 depends from a rear edge of the main body 132 toengage and seal with the associated rear duct panel 80. At a front edgeof the main body 132 a shorter wall 136 depends. Edge flanges 138 and140 extend upward along edges of the panel including along the main body132. First and second turning vanes 150 and 152 extend between theflanges 138 and 140 and are supported thereby. Each exemplary vane 150;152 extends from a leading edge 154; 156 to a trailing edge 158; 160. Aleading portion 162; 164 of each vane extends from the leading edgegenerally parallel to the main body 132. These portions split the flow514 into an exemplary two portions 515A and 515B to, in turn, merge atan outlet 170 formed at the trailing side downstream edges 158 and 160to form the flow 516. To turn the flow, the exemplary vanes each have anintermediate portion 172; 174 transverse to the leading portion 162; 164(e.g., perpendicular thereto in the exemplary embodiment). A downstreamend portion 176; 178 extends from the associated intermediate portion tothe associated downstream/trailing edge 158; 160. In the exemplaryembodiment, these portions are oriented to provide a total flow turn ofapproximately 120°, more broadly about 80-120°. The panel 122 has anexemplary width W of 0.5-1.5 m and an exemplary depth D of 0.5-1.5 m. Anexemplary thickness of the main body portion 132 is 1-5 mm.

In various implementations, the top duct panel 122 may be formed as adrop-in replacement for an existing panel assembly. The panel 132 maythus duplicate the overall dimensions and flow exit angle(s) of theexisting panel. Exemplary discharge angles are 70-140° and may be otherthan a single angle (e.g., a fanned group of vanes).

One or more embodiments of the present invention have been described.Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, the foregoing teachings may be applied in the reengineering ofan existing case configuration. In such a reengineering, details of theexisting configuration will influence or dictate details of anyparticular implementation. Accordingly, other embodiments are within thescope of the following claims.

1. A refrigerated case top duct member (122) comprising the unitarilymolded combination of: a main panel (132); and a plurality of turningvanes (150; 152) at a forward end of the main panel (132).
 2. The topduct member of claim 1 formed by vacuum molding.
 3. The top duct memberof claim 1 comprising material selected from the group consisting of ABSand polystyrene.
 4. The top duct member of claim 1 wherein saidplurality of turning vanes (150; 152) comprises 2-5 vanes.
 5. The topduct member of claim 1 wherein said plurality of turning vanes areoriented to turn a discharge air flow (516) by 80-120°.
 6. The top ductmember of claim 1 wherein said main panel (132) is essentiallynon-insulated.
 7. The top duct member of claim 1 having a width of0.5-1.5 m and a depth of 0.5-1.5 m.
 8. The top duct member of claim 1wherein the main panel has a median thickness of 1-3 mm.
 9. The top ductmember of claim 1 wherein the unitarily molded combination includes leftand right edge flanges (138; 140).
 10. A refrigerated case apparatus(20) comprising: a base (30); a plurality of supports (92) extendingupward from the base; a plurality of structural uprights (70; 72; 74)coupled to the supports; at least one insulated panel (86; 88) betweenthe uprights and the supports and secured to the uprights and thesupports; a refrigeration apparatus (60) positioned to cool an interior(36) of the case; a plurality of rear duct panels (80); and a pluralityof top duct panels (122) according to claim 1 cooperating with the rearduct panels (80) to define a flow path: from an intake (66) at a forwardend of the base; through the base (30) and upward behind the rear ductpanels (80); forward above the main panels (132) of the top duct panels(122); and downward through the turning vanes (150; 152) to discharge.